Log of SV Free Spirit and ships company

The chronicles of the schooner Free Spirit and her crew, embarking on an open ended journey upon the great rolling heap. Free Spirit is currently pursuing humanitarian and commercial goals in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. Working under the Ocean Reach USA and Paradigm Research banners, she is serving as logistics headquarters, workshop, and development laboratory for many ongoing projects. This is the log of her journey.....

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Annapolis & Baltimore ~ October 8th-15th

A great bridge view just south of Annapolis, Maryland.

Paul, standing by on the aft deck....


My favorite, a beautiful sunset off the aft deck - In Annapolis...


We never would have thought that we would be tied up to the dock in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore!


Here is Blayde, hanging out and having a drink with one of the locals :-)


Mom, Aunt Jane and Aunt Pat; on our walking tour of Old Town Baltimore.


Our favorite night time hang out at the Cat's Eye Pub..


The whole crew enjoying an ice cream treat from Aunt Jane.


Our favorite on board musician, Paul, singing some tunes for the ladies :-)


The Baltimore Trade Center




The Inner Harbor of Baltimore, water view.




We were here for Columbus Day, and this statue was the most touching to us.




Aunt Pat and Aunt Jane enjoying an afternoon cruise before heading back to Cleveland.




The Baltimore Aquariuim, from the ship.


posted by CT | 3:22 AM | 1 comments

Sunday, November 23, 2008

See Ya Later, Urbanna (The 1st Time) ~ October 8th

Raoul, hanging out on the boom awaiting our departure. It was super hard to leave him behind, but we respect his choice and wish him the best that Urbanna has to offer. Thanks Raoul for all of your dedication to us and to Free Spirit during your time aboard. Much love, Bro!!



Some of our Urbanna friends; Riann, Sean and Rhys came to say their fare thee wells.



Blayde, saying 'See Ya' from the mast....



Our new crew member, Paul Wiley uncleating and stowing the dock lines for the first time. Welcome aboard!!



Nana and Valin, singing sea shanties as we make our way out of the channel.



Drake, hanging out in the sails while he watches the shoreline of Urbanna pass by on the Port side.



We left with the harmonica playing and the video camera running! Happy times!



Thanks to everyone who made our Summer in Urbanna so spectacular. We recommend this community without hesitation to all cruisers and land bound folk.


posted by CT | 3:03 PM | 0 comments

DC Musuems And Other Fun Stuff

Traveling man.



The boys spinning some moves on the marble benches around the Washington memorial.



A fuzzy, unclear picture of the Hope diamond.



A much cooler sculpture in person, it glistened beautifully in the sunlight.



The original newspaper announcing the reward for Abe Lincoln's assassin, dated April 20th, 1865.



A wise man, to be sure....



Nana and the boys in the Washington memorial.



This was 'huge' in person, it hung above the elevator that took us up the Memorial.



just an interesting street side sculpture in DC.... I am not sure what it represents. If anyone knows, leave a comment!



posted by CT | 2:51 PM | 1 comments

Washington DC ~October 4th - 7th

The bulk of this post is just pictures I would like to share from our trip to Washington DC. The architecture was outstanding and so different from what the boys and I are used to. We only had 2 days to see 'everything', so we were unable to see it all, but had a fantastic time!









We were able to get free tickets to go up inside of the Washington Monument. While we were up there I took the following 4 pictures....

































posted by CT | 2:02 PM | 0 comments

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

More Great Improvements

A few months ago we had a roll of metal tape get dropped from the top of the mast. When it landed on the hatch, the glass was destroyed but stayed intact. Instead of replacing the glass in it, we decided instead to turn it into a helm station. Now that it is complete, it has plexiglass in the front of all the navigation equipment, is protected from the weather, and can be easily viewed by the helmsman.



The library has had the bookshelves for a while now, but the cabinetry was desperately needed.



The storage cabinet for whomever is residing in the library.



The bottom of this cabinetry was to cover the back of the sink installed in the bathroom. Then Tamer decided to turn the upper portion into more book shelves for paperbacks. It serves as our little lending library that we trade out of whenever we find places ashore to do so.



YAH!!!! I was so excited to have the fuel system enclosed in a cabinet. It was all out in the open in the starboard aft corner of the salon and looked really messy. Thanks Baby!!



Then the little door on the right covers up the electrical panel and our 12 volt charging system. Very clever, eh??



posted by CT | 5:40 PM | 0 comments

Introducing Propcalc 4.0

Use Propcalc to easily match your hull with your engine, transmission, and propeller
Put the known data in the top fields, then hit the Update button to get the answers.
Results, of course, should be verified by a Naval Architect or qualified surveyor.
Data is provided for three bladed propellers of average type
For two or four bladed props, use the modifiers shown below.

Fill out the fields as follows:

Vessel LWL (ft) = Waterline length
Vessel Disp (lbs) = Vessel displacement
(max) HP = Rated Engine Max HP
Engine RPM max = Engine RPM at Max HP
Engine RPM cruise = Desired or estimated cruise rpm
(Cruise or Max) Kts = Speed to work the calculations for
Slip = Propeller efficience. 45% is average for a displacement cruiser.
Gear ratio = 1: Gear ratio of transmission
SL Ratio Adj. = This value will be added (or subtracted, if a negative value) to the calculated S/L ratio.

Key information:

If the "hp required" is greater than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too low for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is significantly less than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too high for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is greater than the "Max HP", then your target speed is too high for your engine/hull parameters.
The S/L ratio is calculated automaticaly based on your input. It can be adjusted if necessary, but normally it should be left alone.
If the calculated S/L ratio exceeds S/L MAX, then the results are likely to be non-predictive. Try a lower speed requirement.
SL Ratios of 1.1 - 1.4 are typical of displacement hulls. Semiplaning or planing hulls can go higher.

Typical propeller slip values:

Sailing auxiliary, barges, etc less than 9 Kts............45%
Heavy powerboats, workboats 9 - 15 Kts....................26%
Powerboats, Lightweight Cruisers 15 - 30 Kts..............24%
High speed planing boats 30 - 45 Kts......................20%
V bottom race boats 45 - 90 Kts...........................10%


Note:

it is possible to get irrational answers by irrational input , I.E specifying excessive speed for hull type and length
Any attempt to exceed hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet) with a displacement hull are likely
to fail unless the hull is extremely fine (multihull) or otherwise exceptional. In such cases, an S/L adjustment would be in order.

2 and 4 bladed props:


For two bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by 1.05, and the pitch by 1.01
For four bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by .94, and the pitch by .98
PROPCALC
  Inputs:
Vessel LWL (ft) =
Vessel Disp (lbs) =
  (max) HP =
  Engine RPM max =
  Engine RPM cruise =
  (Cruise or Max) Kts =
  Slip =
  Gear ratio = 1:
  SL Ratio Adj. =
   
    Solutions:
  Prop rpm max =
  Prop rpm cruise =
  Pitch =
  Diameter =
  Static Thrust =
  Cruise HP =
  Cruise HP% =
  SL Ratio =
  DL Ratio =
  SL Max =
  HP Required =